Alibaba set their sights on tracing IPR thieves

E-commerce conglomerate Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, which has been criticised for counterfeit goods sold on its online platforms, said on Tuesday that it removed 6 million listings that may have breached intellectual property rights during the first three quarters of this year.

The Hangzhou-based company, which had a record-breaking initial public offering of $25 billion in September in New York, said it invested more than 1 billion yuan ($160 million) between Jan 1 2013 and Nov 30 2014 to crack down on fake goods and protect the rights of online shoppers.

Shao Xiaofeng, chief risk officer of Alibaba, said in a press conference that the company would further improve its technology and boost the use of big data in order to track down those who sell counterfeit goods on Alibaba's various online platforms. The data and information will be shared with other parties, such as government organizations, to step up efforts in fighting fake goods.